Conventionally, computing devices include at least one operating system (OS) that manages hardware and provides various services for applications running on the computing device to allow these applications to access the hardware. Some applications are designed to perform backups by periodically copying data from a source drive or volume to a specified destination. These backup applications typically need to interact with the operating system of the device in order to perform the backups. Such interactions with the OS often require the backup application to register one or more drivers with the operating system.
In some cases, the installation of the drivers requires a reboot of the system before they are able to perform their intended function correctly. However, the processes involved in rebooting the system usually require a significant downtime of the device, which can be undesirable, especially for production servers that may be hosting mission critical applications and workloads.